Gertrude l



HENRY L. BREVOORT, OF BROOKLYN, NEW YORK; GERTRUDE L. BREVOORT,EXEOUTRIX OF SAID IIENRY L. BREVOORT, DECEASED, ASSIGNOR, BY DIRECT ANDMESNE ASSIGNMENTS, TO THE ELEOTRO YVATERPROOFING AND DYE FIXING COMPANY,OF NEIV YORK, N. Y.

ART OF FIXING DYES IN FABRICS.

SPECIFICATION forming part Of Letters Patent No. 558,718, dated April21, 1896.

Application filed July 25, 1890. Serial No. 359,919, (No specimens.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, HENRY L. Bnnvoonr, a citizen of the United States,residing in the city of Brooklyn, county of Kings, State of New York,have made a new and useful Improvement in the Art of Fixing Dyes inFabrics, of which the following is a full and accurate description.

My invention consists in fixing dyes in cotton, wool, silk, and otherfabrics by the use of metals and a current of electricity derived eitherfrom a battery or from a dynamo.

It is well known that natural dyestuffs such as logwood, madder, fustic,hypernic, and the like-have to be treated with a mordant to fix themupon the goods subjected to the dyeing process. The action of themordant is to form insoluble lakes, as they are called, in the goods,thus leaving the goods dyed at those portions where the mordant and dyehave formed such insoluble lakes.

My invention relates to the fixing of that class of dyes in which thecoloring principle is in solution in the liquid to which the cloth issubjected, and which coloring principle requires a mordant to fix thesame in the goods. In the practice of my invention I fix such colors bysubjecting the goods to a current of electricity after they have beenrun through the solution containing the coloring principle, the goodsbeing between a metal plate or roller on the positive side and having onthe other or negative side a conductor,which maybe of the same metal orsome other metal, or may be a carbon plate or roller. The metal must beconnected with the positive currentto wit, that current which wouldemanate from the negative element of the battery or which would be thepositive current coming from a dynamo. The goods are first saturatedwith the solution containing the dye and are then placed between themetal plate or roller located on the positive side of the goods, and asuitable conductor is then placed on the other or negative side. Thecurrent is then passed through the goods and the water in or on thefibers is decomposed and oxygen is liberated on the positive plate orroller and hydrogen on the conductor on the negative side. The nascentoxygen thus liberated forms an oxid of the metal 011 the positive side,and this oxid enters into chemical combination with the coloringprinciple contained in the goods, thus fixing the color as though amordant had been employed in the old way.

'With different metals diiierent colors or shades can be produced, anddifferent degrees of color can be obtained by varying the concentrationof the dye liquid and by the length of time the goods are treated. Thusif logwood is employed in a dilute state and a tin plate or roller beemployed on the positive side, the goods where the current acts on themwill be turned light blue, a more concentrated solution of the dyeingsolution will turn them a darker blue and still darker with a greaterconcentration, and so 011 till the greatest concentration isreached,which gives the darkest color. Of course the metallic plate orroller on the positive side must be insulated from the conductor, whichmay be carbon or the like metal, on the negative side, the goods beingtreated serving to separate the plates.

As to the amount of current used, it will depend upon the thickness ofthe goods, the size of the machine, and the rapidity with which theoperation is to be performed. If rapidly-rotating pressure-rollers areused, the current must have a higher electromotive force and be greaterin quantity than if more slowly-movin g rollers or less pressure beused.

It is impossible to state the proper electromotive force and quantity ofcurrent to be used in all cases. Each specific material, the thicknessof the material, and the dye employed alter the required quantity andforce of current necessary to effect the fixing of the color. Thecurrent strength and quantity are also altered by the pressure betweenthe metal used and the conductor on the negative side. The greater thepressure the less the current, and vice versa. If the pressure is great,the period of exposure to the action of the current is reduced. If thepressure is less, the period of exposure to the current mustconsequently be greater. So great a pressure should not be employed asto squeeze out all the liquid containing the dyeing principle. Anyei'lgraved plates or rollers may be used for this operation. The plateor roller on the positive side should have its surface from time to timewiped in. order to remove the excess of oxid, and also arrangementsshould be made to absorb the coloring liquid running oif from the lowerroll, if the rolls are used. \Vhen rolls are used, the

oxid may be wiped off by a wiping arrange-.

ment bearing permanently on the surface of the roller connected wi ththe positive current.

My invention differs wholly from the operation described byGoppelsroder, in which he submitted cloth between conducting-plates tothe action of a current of electricity, the cloth having in it asolution of an anilin salt and the other materials necessary for theproduction of anilin-black. The operation in his case consisted inoxidizing the anilin salt by the nascent oxygen liberated by thecurrent, and thus forming the coloring-matter in the goods by theoperation of the said nascent oxygen, as is done in other anilinprocesses by the oxidation of the anilin with arsenious acid or withnitrobenzole.

In my process I produce an oxid of the metal and cause said oxid to passinto the goods for the purpose of fixing the dyeing material by forminga lake in the fiber of the goods, the fixing of the color in myinvention being wholly different from the operation above described,wherein the material in the solution-to wit, the anilin salt-is oxidizedby nascent oxygen. Besides I fix the natural dyestuffs which need amordant. Theprocess of Goppelsroder produces anilin colors on the goodsby the action of nascent oxygen and from materials which do not containany coloring principle in the solution. In my process it is absolutelyessential that a metal be used on the positive side, while in theGoppelsroder process any conductorfor instance, carboncan be used on thepositive side as well as a metal, as he merely seeks to liberate nascentoxygen on the goods at the point or place where the anilin salt is to beoxidized. Thus he described the use of a carbon pencil.

In the practice of my invention carbon cannot be used on the positiveside; buta metal must necessarily be used, as the oxid of the metal isthe fixing agent for the natural color, the said oxid being carried inthe direction of the current from the metallic plate into the fiber. Themetals which are best adapted for use on the positive side arealuminium, tin, zinc, lead, copper, iron, and brass. Bismuth andantimony do not give good results with logwood, because these metals arenot capable of forming desirable salts with the coloring principle. Ingeneral those metals work best which form wit-h the coloring princip-lecolored salts.

From the above it will be seen that alloys may be used as well as simplemetals with fected so far as dyeing goes.

beneficial results. The selection of the metal to be used on thepositive side will depend upon the natural dye used and the capacity ofthat dye to form insoluble colored salts with the oxid of the metal, andin this regard the old and well-known mordanting process will indicatethe best metal to use with any certain color. In operating on smallsamples, where the plates used were between two and three inches indiameter, with logwood, using tin plates, zinc plates, and aluminiumplates, a treatment of ten seconds was found to be sufficient to changethe yellowish brown of the logwood solution into a rich blue, thecurrent being between twenty and thirty volts and the goods being heldfirmly be tween the plates. It is impossible to more definitely lay downthe amount of current required, as each case will depend upon thespecial circumstances attending it, the thickness of the goods, the dyeused, and the amount of pressure. After the goods are thus treated thegoods must be well dried in contact with ordinary air. Thecoloring-matter in the untreated portion of the goods, if such exists,may be removed by washing, if desired, during the finishing thereof. Ifthe goods are to have a pattern upon their surfaces and are not to bedyed over all portions, the coloringmatter may first be printed thereonby rollers in the form of a pattern and the goods can then be subjectedto the action of the current between plain rollers, and thecoloring-matter will be fixed wherever the same is in the goods. Thoseportions of thegoods where no coloring-matter exists are not af- Thegoods, after the operation, may be finished as desired. A lesssatisfactory result may be obtained by first treating the goods betweena metal on the positive side and a conductor on the negative side with acurrent-of electricity when the goods are wet and then subsequentlyimmersing the goods in the dye liquid. A continuous current, ineontradistinc- 'tion to an alternating current, should be used incarrying out this invention. An alternating current can be used if likemetallic rolls are used on both sides of the goods.

It is preferred that the dye liquid be fresh, for with fresh liquids theresult is a brighter color, the old decoction being more or lessoxidized. ,At times the color will be the brightest 011 the negativeside. Vith some dyes the continuation of the treatment beyond a certaintime reduces the intensity of the color. This is found to be the casewith zinc plates and hypernic.

WVhat I desire to secure by Letters Patent 1s- 1. The process of fixingdyes upon fabrics which consists in applying the natural dye in asuitable solvent to the fabric, placing the fabricbetween an anode of anoxidizable metal and a suitable cathode, and substantially in contactwith the anode, passing a current of electricity therethrou gh,oxidizing the anode,

fabrics 'Which consists in applying the natural dye in a suitablesolvent to the fabric, pressing the fabric between an anode of anoxidizable metal and a suitable cathode, passing a current ofelectricity therethrough, oxidizing the anode, and combining said oxidwith the natural dye to form a lake, substantially as described.

HENRY L. BREVOOR'I. lVitnesses:

B. T. VETTERLEIN, G. W. BOOOHERT.

